Persuasion and Persecution
by behindblueeyesxo
Summary: Draco and Hermione have always loathed each other. But when they meet each other one on one, things change. They're a lot more alike than they could have ever dreamed. What will become of this friendship? Will they stand the test of time and war?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Harry Potter or anything like that. That's all J.K. Rowlings.

A/N: So this is my new fanfic. I'd love it if you would read it and review! Criticism, Advice, Love and all that is welcome in said reviews. I'd love you all forever! Enjoy.

Prologue

"You filthy little mudblood." Draco spat.

Hermione's eyes immediately began to fill with tears, which she ferociously wiped away. The hatred in her eyes was so intense that Draco swore if looks could kill that he would be dead. For a second, the smirk fell from his face and he actually felt bad. But then he heard the laughter of his fellow Slytherins and he immediately slipped back into being the regular old Draco.

When Hermione turned and ran off, something tugged at his heart, but he ignored it and turned around to laugh at her with his friends. No matter how much he tried though, he just couldn't shake that guilty feeling in his stomach.

"I hate him Harry. I hate him so much." Hermione cried, flinging herself into her best friends arms. Harry was shaking with rage at how Draco had treated Hermione, but he realized that he needed to be there for her, so he pushed his hatred to the back of his mind and wrapped his arms around Hermione.

"Me too Hermione. Don't listen to him though. You know that you're better than he is. Blood has nothing to do with it." Harry reassured her.

"Then why does everyone make fun of me for it?" She whimpered.

"Because there's nothing else to make fun of. They have to resort to something that doesn't matter to make themselves feel better."

"If I wasn't a mudblood, do you think I'd be better at magic?"

"Don't call yourself that Hermione. But no, I don't think that blood has anything to do with it. Look at Crabbe and Goyle. They're purebloods, but they're big bumbling idiots." Harry told her. Hermione couldn't help but crack a smile at that last comment.

"Thanks Harry. You're really the best." She said, giving a small smile.

"Anytime Hermione. You know I love you." He said, wiping away the last of her tears.

….

"You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" Hermione screamed.

Draco recoiled. He'd never heard such words leave Hermione's mouth, even if they weren't all that bad. Although he pretended not to be, Hermione's words actually had some affect on him. He felt his smirk falter a little, a very rare occurrence for him. He'd never been hurt by some one's low opinion of him before.

Hermione watched as Draco walked away from her. He left her incredibly confused. For a second, it looked as if she had actually hurt his feelings, although she knew that this wasn't true. Draco Malfoy's feelings never got hurt. But then again, if that was true, then why did hurt flash across his face?

Her confusion over this brought her back to the first time that Draco Malfoy had confused her. He had called her a mudblood, and for a second he actually looked sorry about it. However quick it was, it looked as if he actually felt remorse for making her cry. Of course whatever emotion was there was quickly replaced by a smirk and some laughter, but she could have sworn it was there. But none of that really mattered, because he was still Draco Malfoy, the bully that she loathed so much.

….

Hermione shoved her wand in Draco's face, her anger apparent on her face. Draco was terrified. He knew that she hated him enough to hex him into tomorrow. Hermione couldn't help but get some satisfaction out of his fear.

'Ha, who's the inferior one now?' she couldn't help but think to herself. She was really going to hex him all the way to Albania, but then that would make her like him, and that was the last thing she wanted. She lowered her wand and began to walk away.

Then she heard him laugh. That was all the provocation she needed. Hermione whirled around and punched Draco Malfoy right in his snotty, aristocratic nose. She heard a satisfying crack, and then turned and walked back to her friends. Watching Draco and his cronies run away with their tails between their legs was probably the highlight of her life.

...

Chapter 1

Hermione ran down the corridor, looking for somewhere, anywhere that she could hide. She needed to get away from them, from _him_. She heard voices behind her, calling her name. She ran further. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She didn't want to see anyone. She just needed to be alone.

Picking up the pace even more, she turned corner after corner, ran up and down various staircases until she was absolutely certain there was no one there. She was just rounding another corner when she hit something hard. Hermione and whatever- or whoever- toppled over and landed hard on the stone floor.

"What the- ouch!" She heard.

"Ow!" She cried as her shoulder hit hard on the floor.

"Watch where you're goi- Granger?" She heard an incredulous voice say. She looked up and saw that platinum blonde hair over those snooty aristocratic features that she hated so much. "What're you doing in the dungeons?"

"Malfoy? Great. Just what I bloody need." She muttered, wiping away her tears. She couldn't be sure if they were from the fall, or if they were from whatever it was that she had just witnessed in the Gryffindor common room.

"Are you hurt?" Draco asked in a very un-Malfoy like voice. He even went so far as to extend his hand to help her up.

"Like you care." Hermione said, ignoring his hand and forcing herself to push past the pain in her shoulder and get up on her own. Her pride wouldn't let anyone, especially Draco Malfoy, help her up after something so embarrassing. Draco shrugged it off, but after looking a little closer, he noticed that there was more than just physical pain to it. The tears tracks on her face were not fresh.

"What was your rush?" He asked, adding a little bit of snootiness to his voice.

"None of your bloody business." She spat, trying to force her way past him, but he blocked her way. "What in Merlin's name do you want?"

"What's wrong?" He asked. He didn't know why he asked, why he cared, or why he was even talking to her. He just was.

"Nothing."

"It's Weasley isn't it? He's gone and gotten some other girl now hasn't he?" Draco guessed. Hermione struggled for words.

"Wh- How- No! Ronald can do whatever he pleases. I've no say in it, nor do I care." She said, trying to sound as dignified as possible.

"Oh please Granger, everyone can see it. You're madly in love with the bloke, though Merlin knows why. He's such a twat. Plus, you just called him Ronald. You're clearly not pleased with him."

"Am not! What do you know?"

"So if I were to walk into the Gryffindor common room right now, I wouldn't see him and some girl? And if I were to ask anyone what was wrong with you, they would say it was something to do with your parents, or your cat, or homework?"

"How did you know I have a cat?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Everyone does! Stop avoiding the question Granger."

"Why do you even care Malfoy? Just let me go." She said, trying to push past him. To be honest, Draco didn't really know why he cared. He just did. But she couldn't know that.

"Fine. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your little secret, Granger."

"Oh bugger off Malfoy." She said, storming off down the hallway.

Just what she needed, even more confusing things to think about. She continued down the hall until she was positive that there was no one around. After a final look around, Hermione sank to the ground and started crying. She didn't know why she was so upset over it, it's not like she was in love with Ron. She just… it really hurt her to see him with some one else. It wasn't something that she could explain, it was just something that was.

And now after seeing Malfoy, and all that he said, she was really starting to question her feelings. Maybe she was in love with Ronald after all. She really had no idea. And to add to all this, what in Merlin's name is up with Malfoy? Acting all nice and caring? It didn't make any sense. And since when was he so observant? Does he like stalk her or something? First he knows she has a cat, then he picks up on her feelings towards Ron.

Hermione was so frustrated with herself for not being able to sort out her thoughts that she decided she had to focus on something else. She took out her wand and began to practice wordless magic.

...

Draco watched as Hermione sank to the floor with her head in her hands. She was crying so intensely that it amazed him she had been able to keep it together around him. It actually almost made him feel sorry for her. In a weird way, he kind of wanted to go up and comfort her, or something. He didn't know why. He'd never comforted anyone before, plus he hated Hermione Granger.

He watched in awe as Hermione took out her wand and, without moving her lips, conjured three birds. They were fluttering about and chirping happily when all of a sudden they went flying into the wall, exploding into dust. He looked at Hermione and saw the frustration and anger in her eyes. He was torn between being impressed at her magical abilities, and disturbed by her brutal murder of the birds.

Now that he was thinking about it, he was also kind of disturbed by his fascination her Hermione Granger.

Before he knew what he was doing though, he found himself walking over to her. He sat down next to her silently and took out his wand, focusing on doing something without words. Hermione looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything. She watched him struggle for a few minutes before speaking.

"You're trying too hard." She told him. He looked at her and gave a half smile.

"Teach me then?" He asked. Hermione gave a half smile and started talking.

A/N: What'd ya think? Let me know please :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Watch where you're going." Draco spat as he bumped into Harry. Harry turned around and glared at him. Hermione places a hand on her friends arm.

"Don't Harry." She warned.

"What an ass." Said Harry. He turned back around and continued walking, although it was clear that he was quite agitated.

"Yeah." Hermione said half-heartedly. She didn't really know what to think about Draco Malfoy. He still seemed such an ass, but he had been so nice to her last night. He didn't say one mean thing. He picked up on everything that none of her friends did, even Harry. And he helped to take her mind off of whatever it was that she had witnessed in the common room that night. Honestly she wasn't even sure that it could be called a kiss. If anything it was more like… a vacuum cleaner trying to suck some ones face off- to put it into muggle terms. Truly and honestly disgusting.

"Honestly I don't know what his problem is. I don't think I've met anyone so vile in my life." Harry went on. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement.

"Harry, you've met Voldemort." She reminded him.

"Yeah, I suppose. But next to him…"

"And Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yeah him too… but still."

"And what about his father for that matter?"

"Yeah he's pretty bad too. I definitely see where he gets it." Harry agreed. Hermione smirked a little bit, but immediately stopped. Smirking was such a Malfoy thing to do. As nice as he was, she still in no way wanted to be associated with him, let alone be anything like him.

"I'm sure there's plenty worse people out there than Malfoy." Hermione told Harry. Since last night, she had been wondering if maybe Malfoy was only such a terrible person on the outside. It appeared as though he was actually quite nice sometimes. But then again, this was only one occasion. Compared to the countless times he had been awful to her, it was nothing really. Maybe he just had a sudden rare burst of compassion, or maybe he had been drugged. All she knew, was that one night of him being nice wasn't going to change much.

"Yeah I suppose…" Harry agreed, giving Hermione a weird look.

"Let's just go to class. Ignore him." Hermione prompted.

"Wait, Hermione. I wanted to talk to you." Said Harry as he grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"No I really don't want to be late." She pleaded. Hermione knew what this was going to be about, and she really didn't want to talk about it.

"Hermione there's fifteen minutes until class, we have plenty of time. Sit down. We need to talk about this." He didn't really give her much of a choice, as he shoved her down on the ground.

"So, what was last night all about?" He asked. Hermione just shrugged.

"It was nothing really. I guess I was just stressed about everything going on."

"Oh really? So it had nothing to do with Ron kissing Lavender?" Harry said in a disbelieving tone. Hermione hesitated and then quickly shook her head.

"I'm not daft Hermione. You can tell me what's bothering you. You know I won't tell Ron. Or anyone for that matter."

"Harry I don't- I don't even know why I was so upset. It's just, seeing them kissing like that, it just set me off. I have no idea what came over me. Stupid really." Harry gathered Hermione into a hug.

"It's not stupid 'Mione. We have no control over our feelings. I mean, look at me. I'm in love with Ron's sister for Merlins sake." Hermione let out a little laugh.

"Ron still doesn't know about that?" Hermione asked.

"Wait, you know?"

"Harry you aren't exactly subtle about it. I'm your best friend, of course I noticed. I just figured you'd talk about it when you were ready. You've been so stressed lately I just, I didn't want to pester you."

"You could never be a pest to me. But if you want I can tell Ron to lay off on Lavender. He doesn't have to know why."

"No it's fine, really." Hermione said forcing a smile. "Don't do that. He deserves to have some happiness in these times."

"So do you though." Harry said, looking at her seriously.

"I'll be fine. Really Harry, don't worry about it. If you want me to put in a word with Ginny though…"

"No! You can't. I can't be with her. She's Ron's SISTER. It's just, I can't do that. Not right now at least."

"Whatever you say Harry. But can we please get to class now?"

"Sure. And thanks. You're really the best."

"You too Harry." Hermione said with a grin as she linked her arm through her best friends.

.

"Hermione! Harry!" called Ron running down the hall to catch up to them after last class. "Did you guys see the newest decree?"

"Umbridge made ANOTHER rule?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"I thought you liked rules Hermione." Harry teased.

"Oh bugger off. I believe that they have their place, but this is just getting ridiculous. What does this one say Ron?"

"We can't have any out of class activities unless it's approved by her. And we can't even ask about Quidditch because it's not happening." Ron told them. Hermione's jaw dropped. She must have heard about the meeting at the Hog's Head about the DA.

"No quidditch?" Harry practically yelled.

"We've just been denied our ability to help defend students and you're worried about quidditch? What is wrong with you?" Hermione scolded.

"Hermione we can easily meet in secret, but how in Merlin's name do you expect us to play quidditch secretly?" Ron chimed in.

"No Ron she's right. Making sure students can defend themselves is much more important. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes at Harry's comment while Hermione smiled at her best friend. She was reminded of what Draco said the night before, about how he didn't know why she was in love with Ron. Moments like these made Hermione wonder the same thing.

"Well we need to make a plan. Not here though. I'll come up to your dorm after dinner and we can plan some way to make sure that the DA survives. I will not let Umbridge take this away. Not with You-Know-Who returning." Hermione said firmly. She turned and strode off to the library to do her homework before dinner. Even in times of crisis and turmoil, at least her grades could remain a constant.

.

"Is this seat taken?" She heard a voice ask. Hermione looked up from her scroll to find none other than Draco Malfoy standing in front of her.

"Yes." She said immediately, and looked down to go back to work. He might have been nice last night, but he was still Draco Malfoy. Plus, this was a public place. He wouldn't sit with her unless he was up to something.

"No it's not Granger."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"To be polite I guess…"

"Right. You, polite. Whatever you say. If you sit here I'll have to move though. There's no way we can both fit with your huge ego." She shot at him. Draco smirked at her little dig, one that he knew had some truth behind it, and just sat down and opened his book. He wasn't going to antagonize her today.

"Seriously, go find somewhere else to study Malfoy, I'm doing work. I don't have the time or patience to put up with your nonsense right now."

"Look Granger, I just want a quiet place to read my book. All of the other tables are full of gossiping airheads or just plain full and my common room is loud."

"You'd fit right in with the airheads."

"I'll have you know that I am second in our class, only to you. And not at all by much. I won't talk to you if you don't talk to me. Let's just leave it at that." He said exasperatedly. As much as he didn't want to make her angry, he had to keep his honour and pride intact. It pained him enough that he was second to some one of her lineage, but he couldn't handle anyone questioning his intelligence aside from that. He tried to go back to his book, but Hermione just would not stop trying to talk to him.

"Aren't you afraid that people will see you sitting with me though? I mean this is a public place." Hermione asked partially out of curiosity, partially as a dig about how big of a twat he is. Draco sighed and set his book face down on the table. He looked around the room more for dramatic effect than anything.

"Granger, do you see any Slytherins in the library? No. Do you think that any Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw would dare say anything? No. Actually do you think they even care? Because they don't. And there are no relevant Gryffindors in here anyways. And do I look like I care what people think? No."

"Actually you care a lot about what people think." She pointed out. Draco rolled his eyes and opened his book. He was not going to argue with her today. Why does everything she say have to be true? Why did she always have to be right, whether it be in school or in life. Hermione shot him one last glare and tried to focus on her school work.

They worked in silence for a while, and Hermione had to admit that she was surprised. He hadn't insulted her once this entire time, and he was being perfectly quiet. In actuality, she had been the one insulting him. He hadn't even made a bookworm comment, or a mudblood comment, he had hardly even retaliated. She really didn't understand. Malfoy was always off with his friends terrorizing the hallways, or doing unspeakable things with promiscuous Slytherins, so why was he sitting in the library reading for leisure? With her of all people. And why is Merlins name was he being nice to her. It was as if this wasn't Draco Malfoy at all. She glanced up, as if looking at him briefly would make everything suddenly become clear to her. It was then that she noticed what book he was reading.

"Shakespeare. You, of all people, are reading Shakespeare?" Hermione asked incredulously. Draco Malfoy hated anything to do with muggles. He would avoid them at all costs, and looked down upon like they were dirt. So why was he reading a muggle book? This boy just gets more and more confusing…

"What, he's a good writer surprisingly. I actually enjoy reading his work." Draco said nonchalantly.

"Even most muggles don't read his work for leisure. And here you are, one of the most close-minded people I know, reading muggle literature, and Shakespeare for that matter. It doesn't make sense to me. I would expect you to steer clear of anything muggle."

"I just picked it up one day by accident and started reading it. I didn't even realize that it was muggle until part way through. He's actually a surprisingly good writer. Seems like a smart bloke. His prose are impeccable and he actually seems to know what he's talking about." Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

"You're praising a muggle now? You're just full of surprises aren't you? I really don't understand you. First you're nice to me- a muggle born and Harry Potter's best friend, and now you're reading muggle literature. I just don't get you."

"No one does. I suppose that that's another reason I sat with you. I knew you couldn't judge me for it, seeing as you have muggle parents and all." He said kind of sheepishly. Hermione was yet again stunned. He hadn't even called her a mudblood when talking about her lineage. He said it with a hint of humility. This was like a completely different person. But she wouldn't let her guard down. No. Hermione Granger was not going to fall for this ploy of his.

"Coming from the boy who doesn't care what people think right?" Hermione smirked.

"Oh sod off Granger and just let me read in peace and quiet."

"Well let me know what you think of it at the end! I'm interested to hear a wizards ideas on it." She said. She couldn't believe her own ears when she said that. Was she actually inviting Draco Malfoy to speak to her again? Usually she would be against any interaction with him whatsoever. And had she not just vowed to keep her guard up? Draco gave her a weird look and just nodded, quickly immersing himself in Romeo and Juliet again. Hermione shook her head again, stunned at the absurdity of the situation. Draco Malfoy was sitting with her reading a muggle love story for fun.

.

"Come in!" Harry called when Hermione knocked on the door to their dorm room. She gingerly pushed open the door to make sure that none of their roommates were indecent, but Harry and Ron were completely alone.

"Hey! Come sit." Ron called, motioning to the spot directly next to him. Hermione pretended not to see and instead sat on Harry's bed. She didn't mind being around him, but being that close to him right now… well she needed to be able to think straight and not be blinded with disgust at what he had most likely just done with Lavender. Ron gave her a weird look, but quickly shook it off.

"Okay, so I was thinking that instead of using a classroom, we find a more private area- some place that they would never think to look for us. That way we can keep weekly times and keep everything regular. This means that there will be less communication in public about this." Hermione said to start off.

"What about the divination classroom? She hates Trelawney so she's never go up there." Ron suggested.

"Unless she was going up to check up on Trelawney or get her in trouble. We can't use classrooms. It's too easy to get caught." Hermione dismissed the idea without another thought.

"The Forbidden Forrest? No one ever goes in there except for Hagrid and he wouldn't care."

"Ronald there are so many things wrong with that idea. For one, it would just be something else to get in trouble for if we do get caught. Second of all, we could- oh I don't know- potentially die. No one will come if it's in there from fear alone. We'd have to sneak across grounds to get there, grounds which are wide open. Plus there are way too many distractions there."

"Well maybe the Chamber of Secrets?" He suggested again. Hermione couldn't believe the things coming out of this boys mouth.

"Great idea, a place just crawling with Dark Magic. God knows what else is down. there. Any girl could walk into that bathroom and notice that there's a sink missing. And again, people would be bloody terrified." Sometimes she wondered about Ron's thought process. Or if there even was one. Sure he was smart enough… but he was just so illogical sometimes.

"What about the Room of Requirement?" Harry suggested. He had remained silent through Ron's onslaught of awful ideas, obviously actually thinking his ideas through.

"That could work actually. We could ask it to not let anyone else in. It could provide us with so many tools as well. I doubt that she even knows that it exists. Harry that's perfect!" Hermione exclaimed. She noticed Ron grumbling a little bit at her immediate acceptance of Harry's idea, but she couldn't help that his ideas were absolute bollocks.

"How are we going to let the members know?" Ron asked. It was probably the first relevant thing that he had said all night. Hermione thought for a moment, flipping through charms and books through her mind like it were a book itself.

"Why don't we just tell them straight up? Like discreetly of course. But that way it can't be intercepted or anything you know." Harry offered.

"Yeah we can tell a few people and then tell them to tell their friends- the trustworthy ones of course- and then meet them there. I'm thinking Wednesdays at around six. That way it's after supper and before we have to be in dorms, so no one would notice that we're missing."

"What about a back up plan? You know, incase we get caught. What's our story?" Ron asked. When he was asking and not answering the questions, he was actually somewhat useful!

"We can say that we're… just hanging out? I don't know what else we could use as an excuse since all the clubs are banned."

"The decree said groups bigger than 5 would be considered a club."

"And you didn't think it relevant to tell us this earlier?" Hermione exploded. "I'm sorry Ron. I didn't mean it to sound like that. I guess I'm just a little stressed." She immediately apologized. She saw Harry trying to cover a little laugh and caught a weird look from Ron.

"I forgot about it until now… I'm sorry…"

"No it's fine. I guess we just hope that we don't get caught. I don't know what else we could do. If we get caught we're caught. We could try to con our way out of it… but I don't see a way around that. I guess we'll just have to never get caught."

"Bit dangerous 'Mione." Harry said.

"Well what are we supposed to do? I don't know how we could disguise a group of twenty or more students all gathering secretly. We can just exercise as many security precautions as possible and hope the best."

"I suppose so…" Harry said nervously. "It's just that people are finally starting to believe me. I don't want to get anyone into trouble."

"Exactly Harry. They believe you now, so use it. If you don't want them in serious trouble, they need to be trained on how to defend themselves. Otherwise their trouble could be death."

"I'm not even qualified to do this! I wing it every time I battle him." Harry pleaded.

"Yeah but Harry mate, you've also won every time." Ron chimed in.

"You casted a patronus your third year. You're obviously powerful. If you can teach them even that it'll be worth it. Some of them have never even been taught how to stun. Harry, these are the basics that they need. If you can teach them that, it will all be worth it. Please Harry. Please do this." Hermione pleaded. Harry let out a heavy breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was obvious he was battling with his logic and the logic that Hermione had just presented to him.

"Fine. Whatever. But I'm not teaching this on my own. I need the two of you to help me as well." Ron's face immediately brightened at the idea of him being needed. Hermione couldn't help but smile at his obvious joy. She often felt bad for Ron, as Harry got all the glory, and she had all the brains. They couldn't do any of it without Ron, but he didn't get any credit for his work.

"So, we can tell all the Gryffindors from fourth year up and-"

"Fourth year and up?" Ron cut in.

"Yeah. We can't be teaching this stuff to first years. It's way too dangerous and you know that." Hermione told him.

"I suppose so… but shouldn't everyone be educated?"

"Not many third years could do much of this stuff Ron. They'd just get frustrated. Plus, children get excited causing them to accidently let things slip. It's really for the best. Anyways, we can tell the Gryffindors, and then maybe one person from each house except for Slytherin obviously. They can tell the existing members and anyone else that they think is trustworthy enough. Does this sound okay?" Hermione asked. She sometimes felt bad for always making all the plans, but she was the most logical one. The boys would wing everything if they had it their way. Things as big as this need to be planned out so that nothing goes wrong.

"No one from Slytherin. I don't trust any of them, and they all worship Malfoy. He could get it out of any of them. We all know that he'd turn us in the first chance he got, so next to Umbridge he's our biggest worry. And his family is close to Voldemort, so it's doubly important." Harry clarified. Hermione pursed her lips a little bit. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe Malfoy would keep their secret safe. Maybe he didn't want to follow in his fathers footsteps. Then the logical side of her brain kicked in and she realized that this was Malfoy they were talking about. Even if he didn't want to hinder their operation, he probably didn't have much of a choice but to follow in his fathers' path.

A/N: hey guys! please let me know what you think of this? I'd appreciate any suggestions or comments. Thanks! 3


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hermione walked quickly down the hallway, rushing to catch up to Parvati Patil. Parvati had her name on the list for the DA, and Hermione needed to make sure that she knew about the plans, and that she would pass it along to her sister and her friends.

"Parvati! Wait up!" Parvati whirled around.

"Oh, hey Hermione. I heard about the new decree. Does this mean no DA anymore?" Parvati asked worriedly.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Hermione looked around to make sure no one was within earshot, then pull Parvati to the side of the hallway.

"Whats going on?"

"Okay so Harry, Ron and I decided that now of all times, is not the time to back down. With everything going on outside of Hogwarts, people need to know how to protect themselves, whether the ministry likes it or not. So we're going to meet even more secretly. Before I disclose any further details, are you in?" Hermione asked.

"Yes of course I am!" Parvati exclaimed without giving it a second thought.

"Okay perfect, I just need you to sign this then." She said quickly, thrusting the sign up sheet under Parvati's nose.

"I thought I already signed one."

"Yes but this is a new one. It's a master list of everyone." Hermione explained. Parvati shrugged and quickly signed her name on the list.

"Okay so what's going on?"

"Wednesday evenings. Six o'clock. There's a hallway on the fifth floor. Walk up and down that hallway thinking 'I need to learn to protect myself' and a doorway will appear. Walk through that doorway quickly and shut it behind you. No one must be around. If you see or hear anyone, stop thinking and just pretend to be on a stroll. It is imperative that no one see's you. Show up a little early or late so that there isn't a flood of students suddenly strolling the fifth floor."

"Hermione that is so cool! How did you do that?"

"One of Hogwarts best kept secrets. But anyways, we need to educate as many people as possible. Tell anyone fourth year and up who you know to be trustworthy and who would be interested to come and find me before Wednesday night. Please Parvati, you'd be doing us a huge favour."

"Oh of course! I'll tell Padma and her friends, and a few of the Hufflepuff girls… don't worry Hermione I'll spread the word." She said and started skipping off.

"Parvati!" Hermione called after her. Parvati turned back around. "You must be discreet. No one else can know. No talking about this in the hallways alright. Make sure that everyone knows that."

"Naturally!"

.

"Granger." Draco said as he sat down across the table from her. Hermione jumped about a foot in the air and then scrambled to hide what she was working on. Draco Malfoy is the last person that could be allowed to see the list of people in the DA.

"Merlin Malfoy! You gave me a heart attack!" She practically yelled.

"What're you working on that's so secretive?"

"Nothing."

"It was obviously something."

"None of your bloody business Malfoy."

"Let's see, the most advanced book of charms that Hogwarts has? It must be something. What charm are you looking for?"

"I'm just trying to expand my knowledge. Not something you'd know about."

"I bet you and Potter are up to something. You always are… off trying to save the world again?"

"Malfoy, go away. I'm trying to work."

"I just came to do the same thing."

"There's plenty of empty tables. Go sit at one."

"Yeah but I want to sit here."

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Hermione said with an exasperated sigh.

"I just want to work." He said.

"Clearly. Well if you won't leave, I will." Hermione said as she packed up her books. Malfoy watched her for a minute.

"I finished that book by that muggle author." He finally said. That stopped Hermione. She looked at him curiously.

"And?"

"It was well written no doubt, but it was incredibly unrealistic."

"My thoughts exactly!" Hermione exclaimed, sitting down absent mindedly. "I mean that they would be unable to live without each other after one night? I suppose there always is love at first sight though…"

"Love at first sight? You honestly believe in that nonsense?"

"You don't?"

"Granger love is a lie." Draco said with finality. Hermione looked at him curiously again.

"What makes you say that?"

"Two people that suddenly need each other so much that they would do anything for the other, that they would be willing to die for them? It's a load of bullocks. Completely unrealistic."

"What about unromantic love. Like the love a parent might have for their child, or for friends?"

"What, like you love Ron?" He taunted. Hermione blushed furiously.

"No. Plus that wasn't my question."

"Oh, so you do love Ron romantically." He mused.

"Shut it Malfoy I love him as a friend. Just answer my question."

"Parents so called 'love' for their children is just an obligation they have. They have to feed you and all that because they're the ones that brought you into the world. And just because you get along with a friend, doesn't mean you love them."

"So you live your life without any love whatsoever?" Hermione asked. She was suddenly very sad.

"Everyone does. It's all an illusion. Plus, what even is love? Define it for me." Draco challenged.

"It's not something you define. It's just something you feel. And love does exist Malfoy. There is living proof of it. And if the muggles have it too, then they do have some form of magic. Because it is magic. You can ask Harry or Dumbledore. There is living proof of it." Hermione ranted. She wasn't sure how much she should tell Draco about how Harry survived the Killing Curse when he was a baby. She wasn't even sure why she was telling him anything.

"You can keep believing in that illusion Granger. Whatever helps you sleep at night." He said, then turned to his books.

Hermione knew the end of a conversation when she saw one, so she turned back to her books. Although she tried to do some research for a charm that would keep anyone from spilling the secret about Dumbledore's Army, she couldn't focus. Her mind was too focused on the fact that there were people out there like Draco Malfoy who lived without any form of love in their life whatsoever. Although she still wasn't fond of Malfoy, she felt bad for him. Because what is life without love?

.

"No one's coming." Harry said as he paced the room of requirement nervously.

"Yes they are Harry. It's not even six o'clock yet." Hermione assured him.

"They've realized that I don't know anything. Or they got caught. How did I let you guys talk me into this?"

"Just give it some time. They'll be here mate" said Ron.

Just as he said that, the door to the room of requirement opened. Immediately all three of them had their wands drawn and pointed at the door. They quickly lowered them once they realized that it was only Neville, Ginny and Luna.

"Oh, hi guys. You've already signed the list right?" Hermione asked.

"Yes we have. Where is everyone?" Ginny answered.

"You guys are the only ones." Harry said.

"Oh shut it Harry people will come." Just as the words left Ron's mouth the door opened again. They all pointed their wands and lowered them again as they realized it was just Dean and Seamus. This pattern continued until five after six when it appeared as though everybody was there.

"Everyone listen up!" Hermione hollered, standing on a chair. "Thank you. Now if you haven't signed this please raise your hand. It is imperative that everyone sign this. No one? Okay great. Now this group is going to meet every Wednesday in this room at six o'clock. You must be sneaky in getting here and come in small groups. Take a different route each time. We cannot get caught, not now, not ever. Refrain from speaking about this in the halls, classrooms, great hall and to anyone who is not currently here. Now, Harry is in charge. Please listen to him. Got it? Okay, Harry?"

"Right, thanks Hermione. Okay, so tonight I want to hear what you guys want to learn here after that we can work on a few spells. Sound good? Please raise your hand though. There is a rather large amount of you and I want to make sure I get everything you say. Hermione will write it down." Harry told everyone. Once he was in a role of leadership, his nerves just went away. He was a natural really. Hermione couldn't help but smile at her friend in pride.

"Stunning!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Confundus!"

"Body binding!"

"Shielding!"

"Harry, do you think you could teach us to produce a patronus?" Ginny asked after an onslaught of various hexes were called out. Everyones hands dropped and they all looked at Harry expectantly.

"Well… a patronus is very difficult. I produced it in a time of dire need, and was mostly only able to learn it out of desperation. But perhaps after a lot of hard work and little later on in the lessons we could try…" He said diplomatically.

There was a murmur of excitement rippling through the crowd. For some of them, learning to produce a patronus was years away in regular lessons, and that was under the old way of teaching.

"Right, so we have half an hour left before we should return to our dorms. Should we work on expelliarmus? I know it's pretty basic, but it is incredibly useful. Pair up and practice disarming each other and then I'll come around and help." Harry said. Hermione again couldn't help but smile at his natural leadership.

She naturally paired up with Ron and they went through the motions of easily disarming one another. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Harry helped various struggling students and smiled as she watched them suddenly get it. Harry really was a great teacher.

"It seems like you've all got that down now, how about blocking? You all know the theory behind how to do this, so take turns blocking and disarming with your partner." And again, he walked around correcting peoples methods and helping them to truly get it. Hermione and Ron again easily went through all the motions, as this was something they had gotten very good at over the years.

Harry then went on to have them all do a quasi-duel. This was done using only the spells they had worked on that night. Hermione beat Ron every time, much to his frustration. Harry seemed to be enjoying himself and much more at ease than he had before. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. They were all focused, but it looked like they were having fun at the same time.

"Alright everyone! That's enough for tonight. You guys all did great. Same time next week, remember to be sneaky. Keep practicing, but don't let any teachers see you! See you all later." He said and climbed down off of the chair. Everyone, much to Harry's surprise, gave him a big round of applause. He turned bright red but couldn't hold back the grin spreading across his face. This of course had Hermione grinning from ear to ear, as she hadn't seen him smile like that since Cedrics death.

As everyone was leaving and Hermione was packing up, she saw Ginny stop to talk to Harry. She watched curiously as they talked, both smiling at one another. She couldn't help but laugh at how awkward Harry looked. Then Ginny gave Harry a big hug, leaving Harry standing there somewhat speechless. Hermione walked over to him as Ginny walked away.

"Good night?" She asked with a wink.

"Oh sod off Hermione." He shot back, but he was smiling so she knew it was okay.

"You did great tonight Harry." She told him honestly.

"Thanks, I couldn't have done it without you though."

"No really. You're a born leader. I just take care of the logistics of it all. Not as bad as you though it would be right?"

"Not that bad at all." He confirmed.

A/N review review review PLEASE 3


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